Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister Peter O'Neill says he is continuing dialogue with Indonesia's President Joko Widodo on the issue of West Papua.

The newspaper, the National, postcourierpostcourier) reports that Mr O'Neill's comment came after he met with his Solomon Islands counterpart, Manasseh Sogavare in Port Moresby.

As the chairman of the Melanesian Spearhead Group, Mr Sogavare has been on a tour of the Melanesian region, discussing MSG issues such as the human rights situation in Indonesia's Papua region.Mr O'Neill said that he was maintaining dialogue with Jakarta in a "respectful manner... with a focus on building mutual understanding in relation to the safety and security of our millions of Melanesian brothers and sisters across our border".He said PNG remained a strong supporter of the work of the MSG Secretariat based in Vanuatu, saying the work of the sub-regional grouping had to stay relevant for the people of Melanesia.